A new free-to-play game from the studio behind online sci-fi ARPG Warframe was teased during the TennoCon 2022 livestream today, taking the action MMORPG shenanigans into the realm of fantasy. Called Soulframe, we don’t know a lot about it yet, but developers Digital Extremes showed off some early footage. Replace your space pantaloons with your wizard robe before you watch the very first trailer below.
A trademark listing for Soulframe was spotted back in May and noted on Reddit, but this is the first confirmation that it really exists and is a discrete thing of its own that isn’t part of Warframe. On the reveal, Soulframe Creative Director Geoff Crookes said:
“With Soulframe’s worldbuilding and thematic elements, we are really looking to go back to our childhood favorites and pull inspiration from the elaborate fantasy worlds that we fell in love with growing up. Our team is really interested in this idea of nature and humanity colliding and we’ll be exploring a lot of those themes through our own lens while playing with ideas of restoration and exploration.”
Digital Extremes are undergoing something of a reshuffle to accommodate growing their stable of games. Director of community and live operations Rebecca Ford will become new creative director on Warframe, taking over the reins from Steve Sinclair and Scott McGregor. The pair of Warframe vets will be working on Soulframe. Ford’s growing influence has apparently already been felt in the development of the upcoming The Duviri Paradox expansion and Veilbreaker update, the latter of which was announced on today’s stream.
Soulframe hasn’t been in the oven long enough yet to know when it’ll be ready. It’s highly likely the new game will come to Steam and consoles as Warframe did before it. Whether Soulframe will be a simple repurposing of Warframe’s formula into some gestalt, Gandalf-esque form or something very different remains to be seen, but we’ll keep you updated. You can check out the official website here for more info.